


When Sea and Land Accord...

by blackmaurs



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: (as soon as I can remember them), Abusive Parents, Alterbate Universe - Mermaids, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Domestic Violence, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Original Character(s), Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, The Sambucky Mermaid Au No One Asked For, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-06-25 03:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19737790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackmaurs/pseuds/blackmaurs
Summary: The sea fears the land, and the land fears the sea. Sam and Bucky, in the eyes of their people are both marked for death by defying the years long warning to stay away from both the land and sea. Both are enlightened by the others chance encounter and carry that moment with them years after being forced to stay away. Years later, land and sea continue to clash, tensions rising for the worst and the two have yet another chance meeting that could decide the outcome of both their species.





	1. Prologue (An Enlightment and a Promise)

**Author's Note:**

> *tired hysterical laughing*

The beach being vacant hadn't been an oddity in many years. Most were too afraid to even cross its path, others were simply warned to stay clear of them. Venturing onto the beach was a task only completed when absolutely necessary. To venture for fun was unheard of. Openly seen as an act of recklessness, quietly deemed an act of endangerment. Bucky Barnes, however, simply did not care about such views. 

In his 12 years of living, he was constantly seen as a strange child, an anomaly among normal children who listened to their parents when they warned them to never step foot on the beach. His father said it enough times, scolding him nearly to the point of rage every time he would journey to the soft sands. Constantly berated for being a bad influence on his younger sister, for further estranging himself from the village that never seemed to like him anyway. His mother was less harsh, more scared than angry. She never told him directly to stop going to the beach; she merely warned that he should be careful and watch his surroundings like that of a hawk. He would always bring her and his sister, Rebecca, Becca for short, back something every time he went, broken shards of seashells for bracelets, coral colored rocks and iridescent stones if he could find them. It was his own way of proving the beach wasn't dangerous, it held countless beauties if you took time to look. 

Bucky was on yet another expedition to the beach. In one hand he carried a large stick that often accompanied him on his trips, the other was occupied trying to push the dark strands of his hair away from his face, piercing blue eyes squinting at the sun reflected by the sea. A small foraging bag, used normally for berries and herbs, rests against his hip. His sister had complained quite loudly for the last 4 days that she had no more materials to make bracelets. They didn't have enough money for the expensive beads they sold in the markets, and his father would kill him if he tried buying them without his knowledge, so he had promised her he would go on his "special forage" for more materials. It had taken a week before he could slip away without his father knowing where he was going. The man would resort to locking Bucky in his room if it meant keeping him away from the beach. Finally, his father had been called for a shipping expedition miles and miles away from their village. The second he was gone, Bucky made a dash for the beach, bidding his mother farewell with a promise to return before the sun fell beneath the horizon. 

Bucky had desperately missed the beach. It was quiet, no sounds beyond the occasional call of a seagull or the gentle lap of waves, no whispers behind his back calling him a freak, no people. It was his safe haven. He kneels carefully in the sand, just where the sea and the beach met, and digs his fingers into the wet sand, curling the soft mushiness around his fingers. He crawls further until the sea covers his knees, soaking the bottom half of his shorts, and he began to search for shell pieces. 

He makes an effort to keep track of time. Normally he wouldn't care, time spent at the beach seemed much more precious than time spent in the village, but he had promised his mother. She had been...sad, lately. It was a kind of sad Bucky didn't and wouldn't understand until much later in life but he knew it was because of his father. He didn't talk to her anymore. He was around less and less, barely interacting with her or Becca, seemingly doing his best never to interact with Bucky, and when he was around he was always angry at her for something. Bucky had begun sacrificing his once-daily trips to the beach for spending time with his mother and sister more. To make her less sad, and it worked for a while. Eventually, it stopped working like it used to. So Bucky just decided to bring her gifts instead. 

The sky had begun to morph into a captivating pink mixed with oranges and splashes of purple. He had found several shell pieces, two iridescent rocks, and one whole shell that fit snugly into his palm. His forage bag was nearly full but he decided to make one last stop near the rock beds to search for any shells that had shattered when they were smashed against the rocks by the waves. 

"Is it your first expedition too?"

Nearly hitting his head on a looming rock, Bucky shoots up at the sudden voice muted slightly by the crash of waves. No one ever came to the beach. Not like he did.

"Look left." The voice said.

Bucky looks to his left, confused when he's met with more sand and more ocean.

"The other left." The voice chuckles.

Bucky changes the direction in which he was looking, eyes wide when he spots the voices' owner.

It was another boy around his age, his hair was cropped close to his head in small tight curls, his eyes were a rich sepia, and his skin a smooth rich brown. He waved slightly, upper body draped over a flat rock bed languidly, eyeing Bucky in what seemed like amusement.

"Hi," the stranger says, a cheerful lilt to his voice. 

Bucky didn't say anything back, eyes trained carefully on this newcomer and any sudden movement he may make.

"You can come closer," the stranger says, amusement slipping its way back into his tone. "I don't bite. Honest."

He smiles, a prominent gap between his two front teeth. 

Bucky hesitates, glancing at the sky as the sun slowly made its way to the horizon. He should get back. His mother would be worried. But this stranger intrigued him. And what intrigued him he investigated.

Nodding slowly, Bucky carefully makes his way to the rock bed the stranger perched on, situating himself far enough away that he could escape if needed but close enough that he could look the other boy closely in the eyes. The boy smiles again, propping himself up with an elbow planted firmly on the rock, his hand cradling his chin.

"Back to what I was saying earlier," the boy says, childlike and eager. "Is it your first expedition here too?"

Bucky shakes his head, not offering much beyond that.

The stranger perks up at that. "So you've been here before?" 

Bucky nods, once again remaining nonverbal.

The stranger doesn't seem put off by it, merely nodding eagerly as he scoots further up the rock.

"What's it like here?" He asks.

Bucky's face twitches subtly at the question but he doesn't investigate it further. "S' quiet," he mutters finally. "No one comes here."

"So why are you here then?" He questions pure curiosity rather than the usual accusation. 

Bucky digs around in his forage sack and carefully holds out the shell shards he found earlier as his explanation. 

The stranger's sepia eyes light up when he inspects the shards in Bucky's palm. "Shell shards!" He exclaims. "I find those all the time. I didn't think you could find them up this far."

"For my little sister," Bucky supplies, stuffing them quickly back in his bag. "She makes bracelets and stuff like that."

"You have siblings?" He asks.

"Just the one."

"I wish I had siblings sometimes." The stranger says wistfully.

Bucky makes a "hmm" sound in the back of his throat, switching back to being nonverbal.

The stranger looks at him curiously before crossing his arms in front of him, letting them pillow his chin.

"You don't talk much" he says bluntly.

Bucky shrugs, not having much to say to that either. He's used to that too. Called out by his aloofness and subdued personality.

The stranger must see something in his eyes, his head quickly shaking from his earlier statement. "It's not a bad thing," he says quickly. "It's just...different is all. I'm used to a lot of others just talking."

Bucky shrugs and trains his eyes on his feet, picking lazily at the wet sand stuck between his toes. 

"Can I at least know your name?" The stranger says softly.

"...James," he says after a while. "James Buchanan Barnes."

"Three names huh?" he says quietly. "Strange."

Bucky's eyebrow lifts at that. "What's strange about that?" he says defensively.

"Nothing! Nothing at all," he says quickly. "Just not used to hearing that is all."

Bucky crosses his arms somewhat petulantly, eyes narrowed at the stranger. "Well, what's yer name?"

The stranger blinks at him before smiling sheepishly. "Um...Sam. You can call me Sam."

Sam, Bucky repeats in his mind. A name for an unknown face. "Just Sam?" he asks.

"Mhm."

"Then...then you can call me Bucky." he murmurs.

"Bucky?" Sam repeats.

"S' what my friend Steve calls me," he says dismissively. 

"Bucky," Sam repeats once more. "I like it. Suits you."

Bucky rolls his eyes but accepts the compliment none the less. He was beginning to enjoy Sam's company.

"Now I've asked you all these questions," Sam begins. "I think it's fair you ask me some as well. You got any for me?"

Bucky eyed Sam momentarily, studying his features and bright eyes before he loosely crossed his arms and leaned forward so he was inches away from his face. "Where are you from?" he asks. "I don't forget faces easy. I've never seen yours around before."

Sam smiles easily, nodding like he approves of the question. "That's an easy one," he says playfully. "I'm from the sea."

What Sam says doesn't quite register in Bucky's mind. He hears him perfectly fine. What it means, however, doesn't click until what his father had always told him begins to filter its way into his thoughts. 

_"You don't step foot on that beach ever again. Not ever," he said, eyes billowed in a storm of quiet rage. "One lapse of judgment, one too close step towards the water and you'll get dragged into the sea."_

_"By what?" Bucky had asked._

_"Mermaids." The word came out like a curse, his jaw clenched, the rage seeming to spread further beyond his iris. "Dangerous creatures. Deadly in the water, intelligent too." He said, the words almost seemed manic._

_"What's so bad 'bout them?" Bucky asked, oblivious of his father's manic tone._

_"They look like us." his father murmured. "They can think like us. You see one of 'em off in the deep of the water and you'd be none the wiser. It's the tails that's different. Like a fish. Colors of hunters." He trailed off, staring into nothing before his gaze focused quickly back on Bucky's. He surged forward, grabbing Bucky's arm tightly, making sure the boy could see his eyes. "You stay the hell away from that beach. Your uncle. He was like you. Too damn curious. Got himself torn to shreds by those godforsaken things. Killed for nothin'. Nothin'." He releases Bucky and wandered back somewhere in the house. "Killed for nothin'." He kept muttering._

Bucky stumbles back, nearly falling off the rock bed, heart racing, his palms suddenly became clammy and shaky.

Sam's expression falls immediately, concern replacing the childlike smile. "What's wrong?" he says. "Are you okay?"

"Show me your tail," Bucky demands.

"My tai—?"

"Show me!" he yells. "You're from the sea, right? So show me!"

Sam's face morphs from concern to poorly concealed fear. "O-okay." He grasps at the smooth rock bed, trying to pull himself upward, eventually stopping when he realizes he can't get a good grip. "I-I can't...the rocks are to smooth. You'll have to help me."

"Figure it out," Bucky says in a clipped tone.

"Please," Sam pleads. "I swear I won't do anything just please help me up." 

Bucky's father's murmured words of "killed for nothin'" beat insistently at his skull, reminding him of the supposed fate that befell his uncle and what awaited him if he helped Sam, but he ignored it. He had always ignored such warnings, why stop now. Bucky climbs carefully back up the rock bed, hands slowly outstretched towards Sam's. Sam slowly and cautiously wraps his fingers around Bucky's. Bucky grasped his hands and pulled with as much strength as he could. Eventually, Sam was fully on top of the rock bed. Sure enough, a fishtail, no shorter than 10 feet, occupied Sam's lower half. The scales were a gradient of deep reds, grays, silvers, and black. Bucky couldn't take his eyes off of it. "Colors of hunters" his father had said. Impossible, Bucky thinks. Not if they looked like this. 

Sam was still eyeing him warily, shoulders hunched in on themselves. "There. You saw. Now what?" he says. Bucky looks back up at Sam and notices the sepia of his eyes had darkened. The hunter had revealed itself, debating if Bucky was a threat. 

"Wow," Bucky breathes out, a small hysterical chuff slipping past his lips. "You really are a mermaid."

The darkness in his irises falters, confusion replacing it instead. "Mermaid?" he repeated.

"It's what you are right? Or is would it be merman? Or merboy? Or—"

"Stop," Sam says holding up a hand. "What...is a mermaid?"

"....You?" Bucky says slowly, clearly confused as Sam was but for a different reason. 

San blinks. And blinks again before he huffs out a bewildered laugh. "Is that what we're called up here?"

"Yes?" Bucky says.

"That's...wrong," Sam says, clearly amused rather than afraid anymore. "So very wrong."

"What are your people called then?" Bucky asks somewhat desperately.

"...Merrow," Sam says finally. "We're called merrow."

"Merrow," Bucky echoes. 

"Mhm," Sam confirms. "I'm a deep sea merrow."

"So you live deep in the sea." It's a statement rather than a question.

"It's what the name implies," Sam says with a witty grin.

"Then...why are you all the way up here?" Bucky asks.

Sam's grin falters, he looks down at his hands, picking at the sand beneath his fingernails. "I'm not supposed to be," he says softly. "Supposedly I'm doomed to die if I come anywhere near land." Sam looks back up at him, bitter humor clouding his gaze. "I'm guessing you were told something similar."

Bucky nods stiffly. "Yeah. Pretty much."

Sam faces away from him again and gazes out into the multi-colored skies and the sea that mimicked _"Never travel near land. Nothing awaits you there except a brutal death and its orchestrator will no doubt be human,"_ Sam says, no doubt a warning he's been told constantly, much like Bucky has. "That's what my people always say. The deep sea is our safe haven and anyone who willingly strays outside of it is marked for death."

Bucky sympathizes with that easily enough. He's been told as much, just in a different fashion. 

"But they're not wrong," Sam says suddenly.

Bucky raises an eyebrow at that, not judgmental, just looking for elaboration.

Sam must recognize his need for elaboration. He turns back to face Bucky, face solemn. "Five of our people came to the surface about 25 or so winters ago, way before I was born. Fish was scarce in the deep that year. Fear of the surface wasn't something we were concerned about. We never had a need to go before, we didn't know what was there. So they traveled a bit further near the shore. It was just for food. That's all we wanted." Sam grimaces, nails scraping against the rock, the sepia in his eyes turning dark again. "It was only supposed to take a day. Two tops. It had been nearly a week. Our ruler sent a search party, himself included. They tracked them just near the land. You can guess what they found."

Bucky swallows and nods. He knew because it was the mirror to what had happened to his uncle 25 years ago, his father had been 20 and his brother had been 18. This was the missing connection. 

"They're bodies had been dragged onto the beach and burned. All that was left was the heads. They just floated near the water's edge. They had managed to take some humans with them in the massacre. Our leader took the heads back as a reminder. We are never to come near the surface, lest we ignite a war or risked getting ourselves killed."

"I'm sorry," Bucky says awkwardly. Sam shrugs in acknowledgment. "My uncle was one of those humans killed as well." Bucky blurts. It wasn't meant as an affront or a competition.

Sam doesn't look angry, just drained. "I'm sorry," he says.

"It wasn't your fault," Bucky says, fiddling with the seams of his forage bag. "You weren't even born yet."

"Still," Sam urges. "It shouldn't have happened. No one knows why it did. Everyone involved is too dead to tell us what did happen."

"You asked me why I came up here," Sam says shifting topics. "I wanted to prove a point. I was convinced that despite all the proof of the surface being "bad" and humans being the cause of our suffering, not all of them could be like that. It was 25 years ago. I was looking for humans to prove it. I found you. You're not like that. Right?" Sam says almost desperately.

"No," Bucky says immediately. "I didn't even really believe in merma—merrow for a while," he admits. "I just thought everyone was superstitious and paranoid. I came to the beach all the time because it was pretty and full of beauty and I wanted to prove there wasn't anything to be afraid of. Nothing bad ever happened, I wasn't dragged into the sea, so I figured I must be right. Guess I was wrong."

Sam gives him a small smile and shrugs. "You were kinda right," he says.

"How so?"

"If I wanted to drag you into the sea, I'd have done it already. Merrow are pretty strong. Plus," he says quieter. "I have no reason to hurt you. I wouldn't."

"That's...good, I think," Bucky says with a laugh before sobering up. "I wouldn't either, by the way."

"That's...that's good too," Sam says with his own laugh, Bucky joining in.

The laughter dwindles down after a minute, both of then staring out into the sea, comfortable enough silence between them outside of the occasional crash of waves and a light breeze.

Sam's eyes focus back on Bucky and he fidgets before tapping lightly on his shoulder to get his attention. Bucky starts slightly but schools his expression to focus back on Sam.

"Can...can I give you something?" He asks nervously.

Bucky blinks owlishly before giving him a slow nod, not quite knowing to expect.

Sam carefully swivels his tail so it rests in front of them both. Sam begins sifting through the gradient colored scales before he tugs one free with a small wince. The scale has a near perfect amount of deep red, gray, silver, and black and it was only slightly small than his hand. 

"You don't have to take it if you don't—"

"No!" Bucky objects. "I mean, no, I'll take it."

Sam smiles and places the scale carefully in Bucky's palm. "See what your people say about that. Tell them a merrow gave it to you."

Bucky stares at the scale, a small smile gracing his lips. He carefully places it deep in his pocket to avoid it getting scratched up by the shell shards. 

"Wait," he says with a frown. "I don't have anything to give you of mine."

Before Sam can protest and insist he doesn't need anything, Bucky jolts with an idea and takes off his boots. He begins unlacing the jet black shoelaces. They were fairly new but he didn't care. He lines the two laces together so that they're parallel, he makes a loop a pulls the longer end through to make the first knot. He does this repeatedly until he has an intricately weaved bracelet. Sam stares at the new accessory in awe.

"My Ma taught me how to do it," he says, ears burning. "Hold our your wrist."

Sam obliges and holds out his wrist. Bucky wraps it around his wrist and ties it so that it's snug against his skin, but too much so that it hurts or cuts off blood flow. "Now you can tell yer people a human gave you that."

Sam caresses the bracelet with a gentle smile and nods. "Thank you."

Bucky shrugs and thumbs at scale in his pocket.

"I have a proposition," Sam says after he's finished admiring the bracelet.

"Oh?" Bucky inquires.

"After we show these to our respective people," he says holding up the bracelet on his wrist. "If they don't lock us up or something, how about, in a week or so, we meet back here, compare reactions, and see about becoming real friends?"

Bucky considers the proposition, really considers it, and can't think of a reason to refuse. He didn't have friends outside of Steve and he was more like a brother than anything. And he truly enjoyed Sam's company, brief tense moment aside. He smiles and nods. "Yeah. I think I like that."

Sam holds out a hand, a playful grin on his face, gap-tooth smile in full force. "Deal?"

"Deal."

They shake hands, chuckling at the formalities they both displayed, simply enjoying each other's presence.

The moment is shattered when Bucky hears a shout and a loud metallic whoosh. Bucky sees it too late and barely gets out a word before a metal net appears and wraps itself around Sam, tail and all. Sam screams, thrashing so much in panic he knocks himself off the rock bed.

"Bucky!" he screams.

Bucky scrambles off the rock bed to land beside Sam who was still thrashing madly about in the net. Bucky chances a glance in the distance and pales when he spots his father and five other men running towards them.

"Bucky!" Sam screams again. 

"James!" He heads his father bellow distantly. "Get away from that thing!"

Bucky ignores him and sets about trying to free Sam. Sam is still panicking, eyes blown wide in fear. 

"I'm gonna get you out," Bucky says to him as reassuringly as he can muster. "I'm gonna get you out just hold on."

He recognizes the net Sam is wrapped in and thanks whatever deity was listening that it was a clasp net, easily removable.

He searches desperately for the clasp, trying his best to work around Sam's violent thrashing. He located the clasp and tugs at it haphazardly until it comes apart. He shoves the net off Sam who stops thrashing and is instead breathing heavily and looking at Bucky with terror. Bucky chances a glance at his father and his men and curses when he sees them quickly approaching the rock beds.

"Wrap your arm around my shoulders. Come on!" Bucky orders. 

Sam does so quickly and Bucky begins dragging Sam towards the water as quickly as he can. His tail made it difficult by dragging in the sand but Bucky wasn't concerned about that. Eventually, they made it past the rock beds and into the shallow end of the sea. Bucky drops Sam and pushes him the rest of the way in, collapsing forward with the effort. Sam ducks briefly under the water before fixing Bucky with a worried gaze, making no move to swim away.

Bucky notices and weakly shoos him away. "Go," He rasps. "You gotta go."

Sam eyes the men quickly approaching them and then back at Bucky. "I can't...I can't just leave you here—they'll—"

Bucky rose up from the water and grasped Sam's shoulders as tightly as he could, deep blue boring into rich sepia. "They aren't me, Sam. If you stay here, they will kill you." He surges forward and envelops Sam in a tight hug. Sam reciprocates just as quickly, tucking he head into the crook of Bucky's shoulder. 

"Please go," Bucky whispers into his shoulder, pleading with all the strength he had left.

Sam hesitates just briefly before squeezing Bucky tight and letting go. He dives into the water swimming yards out before turning brief sorrowful eyes on him once more and then disappearing into the water.

Bucky gasps out in relief, collapsing on his hands and knees in the water. Sam was safe. He had succeeded. He reached into his pocket, confirming the scale was still nestled safely inside. He smiles to himself, basking in his own satisfaction before it could inevitably be ruined. 

He didn't turn around when he heard heavier footsteps slosh into the water behind him. Only when they stopped did he glance behind him. His father was behind him, a harpoon in hand, his men a ways back with their own weapons. One thing that remained true in his father was that despite him being a man of little expression his eyes were the betrayers of his true emotions. His brow was drawn tight, his lips were set in a firm line, but his eyes were the worst. They were dark gray pools of absolute fury and rage, threatening to shred Bucky in their chaos. His father shot a hand out and grasped a handful of Bucky's hair pulling him up to stand on his feet. 

"Get up," he hisses.

Bucky stifles a yelp, refusing to give his father the satisfaction of seeing him hurt. He drags Bucky back to shore, his men doing their best to stay out of his way. His father throws him down in the sand, towering over him. 

"What the fuck were you thinking, boy?" he bellows. 

"He wasn't gonna hurt me!" Bucky shouts. "If he wanted to kill me he'd have already done it, you—!"

His father steps forward and smacks Bucky clean across the mouth, effectively silencing any further protests. 

"Don't you ever talk back to me," his voice had gone cold, the ice on his tone freezing something deep inside Bucky. 

"Told you bout them goddamn things nearly 8 years ago," he mutters manically. "I told you what they did to your uncle and here you are cozyin' up to one. You don't listen. You don't know nothin'."

"And you do?" Bucky shoots back. He knows he's risking another snack to the mouth or something worse but he can't find it in him to care all that much. "What do you know? Have you ever seen one of them? How do you get to make all these assumptions about creatures you've never seen or met."

"They killed your uncle!" He roars, crowding Bucky's space.

"Maybe it was his own fault!" 

Bucky flinches inwardly at his own words. It was a flimsy accusation fueled by rising emotions. For all he knows, his uncle could have merely got caught in the crossfire of whatever happened 25 years ago, no intention of ending up dead the next day. From what Sam had told him, neither side knew what happened that day. It was only assumed that the other side started it. 

Bucky's thoughts are interrupted when a fist connects with his jaw, pain shooting up the entire left side of his face, the sharp tang of copper filling his mouth indicating blood. Another punch came and Bucky barely blocked, his father's fist continued to rain down on him in a blind rage, teeth bared in an ugly snarl. 

"Goddamn brat!" He bellows, punches becoming aimless and more brutal. "Worthless piece of shit!" 

This goes on for another minute before one of his men finally has enough of watching him beat his own son and hauls his father off of him. 

"Stop, George. Stop!" He says. "The boy's had enough."

His father slaps the man's hand away, breath coming out in ragged gasps, knuckles split with quickly drying blood, both his own and Bucky's. 

"You..." he rasps, pointing a bloody finger at Bucky, stumbling like the action sapped all of his strength. "Ain't gonna step foot on this fucking beach again. I'll make sure of that." He stoops low so that he's eye level with Bucky who was still coughing and wheezing in pain.

"If you ever disrespect your uncle's death like that again," he says in a sinister whisper. "I'll drag you into the sea myself and leave you there to drown."

He rises back up and stalks slowly back towards the village without another word, his men falling in a step behind him, glancing briefly at Bucky who was halfway collapsed in the sand. His arms were bruised and his face was a bloody mess, he no doubt would have a black eye when he wakes up tomorrow. At least his nose wasn't broken. He slowly gets to his feet, spits blood into the sand and follows slowly behind his father and his men. His only motivation to go back was Becca and his mother. He had promised them both he'd be back. He never broke his word to them. He chances one more look at the sea, its calm, its beauty, its promise. He didn't take his father's words lightly. This was no doubt the proverbial straw to break the camel's back. His father would keep him from the beach with a finality not previously enforced and his father wasn't a man to half-ass something. He wouldn't lay eyes on the sea again so long as his father deemed it so. Bucky took out the scale in his hand, thumbing it softly as he made a silent promise to its owner.

_However long it takes, I'll meet you here again. A deal's a deal._

"So hurry back," he murmurs out loud.


	2. The Sea’s Chosen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 20 years later, a look beneath the sea...

_20 years later, beneath the deep of the sea_

The sea stopped speaking nearly three months ago. The vast body of water held its own kind sentience, only communicating with those who would and could listen. Merrow were a species born with a direct connection to the sea. Some were weak in their connection, most were average, few were strong in their connection. 

Sam had been strong in his connection to the sea since birth. When the sea afforded it, he was able to focus on all the occurred in the sea, be it a virtuous moment or an ailment of sorts. His connection, as strong as it showed itself to be, was given a name. Sea Harken. Sam had taken the name in stride, using it to understand the sea further.

In his 32 years of living, the sea had never been silent to him. Even when it hadn't particularly anything to say, it still remained present in the very back of his mind as a comfort, as a familiarity. When it had suddenly stopped "speaking" nearly 3 months ago, it felt like a vital part of his anatomy had been severed. It felt disturbingly like physical pain. Now, three months later, it was quiet, eerily so. No presence, no faint whisper, no indication that it had been there at all despite it physically surrounding him everywhere. 

He tries now to regain the presence, desperately so. He had swum to the most open part of the sea, no life or earth within miles. It's just him and endless blue. The red, gray, silver and black of his tail shimmers slightly as it swishes idly beneath him as he floats at the center. He closes his eyes, willing, forcing the sea to speak to him again. He floats there for nearly an hour to no avail. He opens his eyes, sighs when the familiar presence of the sea still remained absent from him. His shoulders droop dejectedly and his lips form into a grimace. He'd try again tomorrow. He had been trying for three months since it happened. 

In his dejected state, he doesn't hear or see the figure quickly approaching him from the cloaked darkness of the deep blue. The figure tackles Sam, sending him to the seafloor in a flurry of sand and dust. Sam rights himself, sepia eyes darkened, fangs bared to rip away at his attacker before he catches of deep red and gold scales.

"Neptune, Tony! You scared the shit out of me!" Sam hisses, shaking his tail free of any remaining sand.

His "attacker", Tony, laughs idly and drapes himself across Sam's back, a casual smirk on his lips. Tony is slightly smaller than Sam, however, he is older than him. His skin is a rich olive color, his hair consists of dark curls that reach just past his ears, and his eyes are soft Bambi brown with eyelashes that add to the effect. 

"Sorry, Sammy. Couldn't help myself," he says, though it's clear he's not sorry.

Sam dislodges Tony from his back and maneuvers them so he can stare at Tony with an unimpressed glare. "What're you doing here, Tony."

Tony shrugs innocently and smiles wider. It's to show more teeth rather than to be genuine. "I can't spend time with you every once in a while?"

Sam rolled his eyes, arms folding across his chest. "You and I both know you can lie better than that. So out with it."

"Saaaam," Tony sing songs dramatically.

"Toooony," Sam parrots sarcastically.

The smile plastered on Tony's face remains in place for a moment before it drops and is replaced by a careful smirk. "I'm trying to stall here."

"Stall what?" Sam asks.

Tony sighs and plucks distractedly at the scales on his tail, not saying anything.

"Tony," Sam says more firmly, quickly getting irritated.

"Shit fine!" Tony exclaims, throwing his arms up. "I was doing you a favor, the longer I stall the more time you'll have to come up with an excuse for his Highness."

"My father?" Sam questions, eyebrow lifting suspiciously. "What's he want."

Tony glances at him before sighing and crossing his arms to mirror Sam. "His Highness wants an explanation as to why you've been neglecting your duties and disappearing for the last three months."

Sam groans, dragging a hand down his face to pinch the bridge of his nose. "By Neptune, he knows why. It's—"

"Your Sea Harken going caput three months ago and you trying to regain it, yes he knows," Tony says waving a hand dismissively. "Doesn't mean he's particularly happy about it. He's been wanting to talk to you about but you've been," he gestures the expanse of blue surrounding them, "here."

Sam wants to punch something. Maybe a shark. It'd put up a fight. Concluding that it wouldn't amount to much except a pissed off shark and bruised knuckles, Sam opts to ditch the idea and focus back on Tony who is eyeing him in his calculating way. "Why didn't he send Rhodey to come and retrieve me?"

Tony feigns hurt and bats his eyelashes sadly. "You hate me that much?" 

Sam lifts an unimpressed eyebrow and the facade disappears as quickly as it comes. Tony mutters something that sounds suspiciously like "You're no fun" before shrugging. 

"I volunteered. I knew if Rhodey came to get you he'd just drag you back as soon as he found. I love him to death but he can be so uptight about his duties ya know? I wanted to give you the chance to make a case for yourself."

Sam appreciates it more than he'll let Tony know. Sam shuffles forward and combs an affectionate hand through Tony's curls. It's a thing with Tony. He loves having his hair played with. Tony shows his gratitude by leaning in the touch with a soft smile he rarely displays.

"Maybe you're not a complete pain," Sam says fondly. 

Tony makes a disgruntled noise and swats at Sam's hand. "You ruined it."

Sam snorts and ruffles his hair once more before swimming ahead of him. "Come on. Let's go before they send a search party."

Tony bows with a teasing smirk. "Lead the way, my Prince."

Sam sends him a withering look before promptly ignoring him and continuing to swim ahead with a renewed vigor.

"What?" Tony says with a laugh, swimming forward to catch up with him. "Ah come on I'm just teasing! Sam!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter?! *gasp* I literally got the inspiration to finish this at 11 at night wow love that. Anyway some clarifying points and things to anticipate 
> 
> -Sam is revealed to be merrow royalty. The king will be revealed next chapter and he is an OC.   
> -Tony is very close to Sam along with Rhodey who will also appear next chapter  
> -Bucky’s P.O.V won’t be back until at least 2-3 more chapters I believe (who knows we’ll see)
> 
> That’s it folk! Let me know if you see any typos!

**Author's Note:**

> I have literally only been able to only write this fic in the godforsaken hours of the night. For three days none the less. Anyway that’s not important. Some notes:
> 
> -Merrow in reality refers to the Irish version of Mermaids. I didn’t feel like writing mermen cuz...no so I found a gender neutral term for them. So if you’re wondering that’s why
> 
> -Obviously this is a Sambucky fic and I haven’t decided if there will be anymore ships beyond that so that’ll be addressed later
> 
> -more characters will be added I’m just too tired to remember them all oops
> 
> -I am absolutely not promising regular updates don’t expect it but I’m really passionate about his one so I seriously doubt I’ll drop it. 
> 
> that should be it for notes rn. comment if you’re confused on anything I’d appreciate it :)
> 
> sit back and enjoy the ride I plan on making this one the best it can be
> 
> -Maurs 
> 
> P.S (comments and kudos are greatly appreciated, I’m sure there are a shit ton of mistakes cuz I just finished this @ 1:30 in the morning so make me aware of those as well)


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